Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae Memorial

This memorial is dedicated to the memory of Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, best known as the author of the poem “In Flanders Fields”.

Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae (1872-1918) was born in Guelph where he became a member of the Guelph militia regiment. McCrae studied at the University of Toronto and joined The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. In 1893, he trained as an artilleryman at the Royal Military College in Kingston. He returned to U of T, completed his B.A. and went on to study medicine. McCrae served in the artillery during the Second Boer War and upon his returned taught at the University of Vermont and McGill University. Joining at the very start of the First World War, McCrae worked as a field surgeon and was in charge of a field hospital during the Second Battle of Ypres when McCrae’s friend Lt Alexis Helmer was killed in battle. His burial inspired the poem “In Flanders Fields” which was written on 3 May, 1915 and published later that year. In June 1915, McCrae was made responsible for No. 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) at Dannes-Cammiers near Boulogne-sur-Mer. On 28 January 1918, while still in command, McCrae died of pneumonia. He was buried in the Wimereux Cemetery with full military honours and in the presence of General Sir Arthur Currie.

[front/devant] *denotes a spelling error

John McCrea*
Poête et soldat
Poet and Soldier

En hommage

Un poème de la Grande Guerre, symbolisant le souvenir du sacrifice des Canadiens, intemporel et dépassant nos frontières.

LE COQUELICOT

Le coquelicot rouge, une plante indigène le long de la majeure partie du front occidental de la Première Guerre mondiale, est devenu un symbole éloquent du souvenir. C’est le principal emblème de la Légion royal canadienne, qui en distribue des millions chaque année aux Canadiens qui les portent le jour du Souvenir.

« Au champ d’honneur les coquelicots sont parsemés.. »

Le symbole familier du coquelicot doit une bonne part de sa célébrité au poète et soldat canadien John McCrae. Le poème le plus connu de McCrae, Au champ d’honneur, lui fut inspiré pas les coquelicots qui poussaient le long du front occidental et auxquels il fait allusion. Le poème débute ainsi « Au champ d’honneur les coquelicots/ Sont parsemé de lot en lot/ Près des croix.. »

AU CHAMP D’HONNEUR ET JOHN MCCRAE

On se souvient surtout de John McCrae comme l’auteur de Au champ d’honneur, le poème le plus connu de la Première Guerre mondiale.

L’HOMME

McCrae naquit à Guelph (Ontario) et servit comme artilleur pendant la guerre d’Afrique du Sud. Il fut plus tard professeur de médecine et médecin à l’Université McGill à Montréal. McCrae s’enrôla dès le Première Guerre mondiale, espérant une affectation d’artilleur, mais en raison de la pénurie de médecines, il accepta un poste de chirurgien de brigade dans une brigade d’artillerie.

LE POÉME

Au cours de la deuxième bataille d’Ypres, en 1915, McCrae soigna les blessés et pratiqua des chirurgies sur des soldats canadiens et alliés. Épuisé et attristé par la mort d’un ami cher, il composa Au champ d’honneur au cours d’une brève période de repos. Le poème fut publié le 8 décembre 1915 dans le Punch, où il connut un succès mondial presque immédiat. Il illustrait l’humeur belliqueuse des Alliés et affirmait la nécessité de rester fidèle à ceux qui étaient déjà mort.

LE LEGS

McCrae était devenu un poète de renommé mondiale, mais il continua de travailler comme chirurgien. Il servit dans plusieurs hôpitaux canadiens au cours de la guerre, ne ménageant ni son personnel ni sa propre personne. McCrae fut souvent malade mais se reposait peu et il succomba à une pneumonie le 28 janvier 1918. Il est inhumé au cimetière de Wimereux, en France. Des millions de personnes au Canada et à travers le monde lisent le poème de McCrae à chaque jour du Souvenir. Un musée historique situé dans le Halle aux draps, à Ypres (Belgique), a été baptisé en l’honneur de ce poème ; la salle des expositions spéciales du Musée canadien de la guerre, le musée nationale d’histoire militaire du Canada, porte le nom de McCrae.

In Honour

A poem of the Great War, symbolizing the memory of sacrifice of Canadians, timeless and exceeding our borders.

THE POPPY

The red poppy, a native plant along much of the Western Front during the First World War, has become a symbol of remembrance. It is the principal emblem of the Royal Canadian Legion, which distributes several million each year to be worn by Canadians on Remembrance Day.

“In Flanders Fields the Poppies Blow..”

The familiar symbol of the poppy owes much of its fame to Canadian poet and soldier John McCrae. In Flanders Fields, McCrae’s best-known poem, was inspired by and made reference to the poppies which grew along the Western Front. It opens, “In Flanders fields the poppies blow/ Between the crosses, row on row..”

IN FLANDERS FIELDS AND JOHN MCCRAE

John McCrae is best remembered as the author of In Flanders Fields, the most recognizable poem of the First World War.

THE MAN

McCrae was born in Guelph, Ontario and served as a gunner in the South African War. He was later a professor of medicine and physician at McGill University in Montreal. McCrae enlisted quickly at the outbreak of the First World War, hoping for a position as a gunner, but doctors were in short supply and he accepted an appointment as brigade-surgeon in an artillery brigade.

THE POEM

At the Battle of Second Ypres in April 1915, McCrae spent 17 days caring for the wounded and performing surgery on Canadian and Allied troops. Exhausted and saddened by the death of a close friend, he composed In Flanders Fields during a brief rest. The poem was published on 8 December 1915 in Punch magazine, where it achieved almost instant world-wide fame. It captured the Allies belligerent mood and the requirement to “keep faith” with those who had already died.

THE LEGACY

McCrae had become an internationally-recognized poet, but continued to work as a surgeon. He served in a number of Canadian hospitals during the war and pushed himself and his staff hard. McCrae was often sick but took little rest and succumbed to pneumonia on 28 January 1918. He is buried in Wimereux Cemetery, in France. McCrae’s poem is read by millions in Canada and around the world each Remembrance Day. A history museum in the Cloth Hall in Ypres, Belgium is named after his poem; the special exhibit gallery in the Canadian War Museum, Canada’s national museum of military history, is named for McCrae.